Tabitha and Talia are twins and it’s obvious from the jump that one of the twins is.. evil. they live next door to each other and are extremely close (jealous!! i’ve always wanted a twin 😭) buuuut there are tons of secrets between the twins, their husbands & the new neighbor that just moved in next door.

it waaaaas extremely predictable lol but i mean it IS enjoyable if you’re just looking for a thriller that’s just easy to read in one sitting. it was a bit slow in the middle and i found myself kinda bored listening to the same marriage issue and one twin being weird af. then the last 20% is extremely action packed but i just felt like i knew everything that was going to happen. i’d say i guessed 8/10 twists in the book.

things i didn’t like were the constant repetitive references & some of them didn’t even matter.. like the damn picture that was mentioned at least 10 times 😭, the predictability of majority of the twists, i felt like some of the internal thoughts didn’t match up with what was happening & this is specific to audiobook but the narrator drove me NUTS with some of the voices and also her tone of voice in some parts made it easy to guess the twists (unless that’s what they want you to do??)

thank you for letting me review this book early!!!

I feel like a lot of the parts of the book were unnecessary boring details. I hated both sisters and husbands. I had no connection to any of the characters.

Someone new moves into the neighborhood and twins, Talia and Tabitha feel like she is hiding something.

It felt like the book started and we were immediately told to suspect the new neighbor which felt like it was based on no reason. This was hard to get over as the neighbor literally moved into the house next door and one twin thought she was sketchy. Throughout the story she does disappear it seems but still, it was more one twin telling the other that she is suspicious.

We do get a few twists and secrets toward the end that really give us reasons why certain things were said or done, but there weren't huge clues.

Overall, it was an entertaining read but I wish we went a little deeper into the lives of these people because some of them had a bad side!

I really enjoyed the plot build-up in this book. The ending totally caught me off-guard, and I loved it! Such a great plot twist. I really liked how all the character identities were identitfied at the end, I was not expecting some of them to be who they were. Sorry for the odd wording I'm trying to not give away any spoilers :)

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the ARC of this book

The secrets next door follow the lives of two grown up twins who are both married with children, who refused to separate as they grew in life and as a result live next door to each other and own a business together.

Everything is perfect until a new neighbour moves in next door. A mystery writer who lives up to the stereotype and causes the twins to be consumed by suspicion and paranoia, resulting in endless conspiracies and attempts at spying to find out answers.

I had difficulty connecting to any of the characters, the husbands took a back seat as the twin wives stole the limelight with their vapid over the top personalities. It felt very high school ish with the endless gossiping, arguments and exclusive relationship with one another.

I would put this in the suburbia domestic suspense genre category, the focus is more on secrets and lies. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Patricia Rodriguez, although the narrator did an overall good job, I unfortunately found her voice a little grating.

This one was a bit of a miss for me, I was hoping for something a little more thrilling but found this to be a bit more surface level / shallow. This book is likely a great fit for those who enjoy the likes of Shari Lapena and her suburbia paranoia.

Thank you to Sally Royer-Derr, Dreamscape media and NetGalley for the ALC

I didn't feel attachment connect or care about any character. Characters are acting too much like children, especially for their age. The descriptions were too detailed for no reason at some moments.

Good acting by the narrator. I disagree with the other reviewers on that point. The problem fell with the plot, writing style, and characters mostly.

The Secrets Next Door written by Sally Royer-Derr and narrated by Patricia Rodriguez is a very well performed production. The writing style is gripping, very well paced and the plotline strong and concise.

Patricia Rodriguez created an outstanding ambience and neither the writing or the performance can be faulted, there was just something about the characters and setting that I could not connect with. No shade to the author in any way, it is a truly brilliant piece of writing just slightly separated from my jam

It is a fantastic plot and very well done

Thank you very much to Dreamscape Select, Storm Publishing, the author Sally Royer-Derr and narrator Patricia Rodriguez for this very well written and performed ALC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version.
I am not really sure about this book. But the reviews I guess. I am trying so hard to like it and get through it but I just can't figure it out. The story is not gripping all the characters are just forgettable. There is really no plot and the narrator is not good.
I feel like this story was written by a teenager. Lines like" Who eat dinner at midnight?" What do you mean who eats dinner at midnight... Tons of people. And the character Even mentioned someones clothing who was bright colors and how she thought it was weird an author would wear something like that. When a novelist would wear neutral colors. What is she talking about? Even though the characters are older married and some with kids. The story itself is just not engaging. I am more than half way through and nothing has happened. So I think it is a DNF.

It’s hard for me to give a review because the narrator detracted from the story for me. The change in voices for the characters was horrendous and the sheer volume when the kid talked will blow out your speakers. 🤣 I wish I’d had the opportunity to read a print version. I enjoyed the story and the interactions between Anne, Talia, Tabitha, and the husbands. The twist came out of left field.

Giving this story 5 stars because I was loving it but unfortunately the NG app was making it difficult for me to listen to this and because of that I couldn't finish. But that's not the author or publishers fault. I'll definitely buy it when it comes out for a better listening experience.

I really do love a good audiobook thriller, because I can't get ahead of myself and skip to the end. This was a first where the main characters were twin sisters, and you knew from the start that one was very suspect. I really appreciated the way this story wrapped up and even went backward in time to explain what had happened. It feels like you can put a puzzle together when the plot is further explained through a backwards timeline and as a reader, it forces my brain to think more to compile those pieces.

My critiques come from the audiobook narrator, a few of the voices she used were under my skin and at times the way she described things made them obvious clues to the ending, forcing them to be stuck out in my brain where I was able to guess the ending partially.

A warm thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select, Storm Publishing for this early Audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for March 4, 2024.

Name of Book: The Secrets Next Door
Author: Sally Royce-Derr
Narrator: Patricia Rodriguez
Genre: Mystery/Thriller, Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Dreamscape Select, Storm Publishing
Pub Date: March 4, 2024
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pages: 248

Talia and Tabitha are thirty-two year-old identical twins; they are both married, live next door to each other and co-own a bakery in Little Beak, New York.
Although identical twins they are very different. Tabitha married Grant, who is from a wealthy family and she enjoys the glamorous life wealth brings. They married when she was twenty–one and have a young son named Cole.
Talia is married to Zach and they have been together since childhood.
Talia is shy and happy being a baker.

When Anne Gravely, a mystery writer moves into the neighborhood, Talia and Tabitha welcome her with a basket of homemade cupcakes. However, there is a bit of mystery surrounding Anne. She is renting a house that was for sale. She offered a lot of money to rent the house as she only wants to stay there for a short time.
Tabitha is suspicious and sure the new neighbor has a secret.

Story alternates between then and now.

Although slowed down a bit, it definitely was gripping and twisty. Did keep me guessing!
Loved the ending as everything pulled together. Yes! We find Anne’s secret as well as things that happened years ago.

Want to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Select, Storm Publishing for this early Audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for March 4, 2024.

If you want a book that will keep you up all night reading just one more chapter this is it! I didn’t expect this to be such a page turner but I couldn’t put it down.

Holy cow. I have three questions:
1. Was this written by a Middle Schooler?
2. Was this edited by a Middle Schooler?
3. If no to the above, HOW WAS THIS PUBLISHED?!

I'm sorry, I'm usually not harsh in my review, but this book was painfully bad. The author felt the need to detail every tiny little thing, down to the color of the neighbor's toenails. NONE OF THIS MATTERS! This book could've been 200 pages shorter and still told the same story. It felt like I was listening to something written by a child, and even then, they could've done better. I have not disliked a book this strongly in a long, long time. The narrator was awful, too.

The narrators voice is something I could not get used to. The story was a good one but since it was an audio since I could not get into the voice I DNFed it.

I was hoping for a gripping and immersive thriller, but unfortunately the narrator did not do it for me. She was only reading and not portraying emotions, or building suspense. I had to DNF as I was not enjoying at all.

As a dedicated fan of the thriller genre, I eagerly delved into "The Secrets Nextdoor" hoping for a gripping tale of suspense and mystery. However, despite its brevity, the novel fell far short of expectations, leaving me disheartened and unfulfilled.

From the outset, it became apparent that the book's brevity worked against it, robbing the narrative of the opportunity to delve deeper into crucial conversations and character developments. This lack of depth rendered the storyline frustratingly superficial, leaving me yearning for more substance and complexity.

Compounding the issue was the erratic pacing, which detracted from any semblance of tension or suspense. Instead of a carefully crafted buildup, the narrative careened from one scene to the next without rhyme or reason, leaving me disoriented and disconnected from the story's progression.

The final chapters attempted to salvage the narrative with sudden revelations, but these twists felt forced and lacked the necessary groundwork to be truly impactful. Instead of adding depth to the storyline, they served as mere plot devices, further undermining the novel's overall coherence and believability.

Despite its flaws, "The Secrets Nextdoor" did manage to offer a few intriguing twists, which provided brief moments of intrigue amidst the disappointment. However, these fleeting moments were not enough to redeem the novel's overall lackluster execution.

In conclusion, while "The Secrets Nextdoor" may hold some appeal for readers seeking a quick and mildly entertaining read, it ultimately fails to deliver on the promise of a compelling thriller. With its shallow characterization, erratic pacing, and lack of cohesive storytelling, I can only award this novel two stars.

I read this as an audiobook from NetGalley and I really enjoyed it. The buildup was slow, but it was small family drama that kept my attention. There's a new neighbor -- what's her secret?
People who enjoy slow burn domestic thrillers will probably also enjoy this. The narration was good, with different emphasis for different characters

Publication date: March 4th, 2024
Page number: 248
Audio length: 7 hours 39 minutes
Narrator: Patricia Rodriguez
Genre: domestic thriller
POV: multiple
Setting: suburbia

Good narrator!

Story of a mysterious mystery writer neighbor moving next to bakery owner twins.

Fast “read”. Did not feel very connected to the characters. Story picks up in the second half.

Thank you to author, publisher, NetGalley for advanced audio copy. This is an honest voluntary review.

A solid listen. Really easy to get into. I would rate this a 3.5/5 in my opinion! Would I buy a physical copy? Probably not but glad I got the chance to listen to this.